Many different writers have taken a shot at the Merc with a Mouth over the years.
Some made it work and others…not so much.
Deadpools got a lot going on these days, even if he did just die.
He has a solo series, a miniseries with Spider-Man, and hes going to be joining the Avengers.
I suppose Icouldinclude5 RoninandIdentity Warsif I wanted to stretch the technicality, but nah.
Now to the list.
ROB RODI
Identity Disc #1-5
Artist Collaborations: John Higgins
Ah,Identity Disc.
I dont mean that its similar.
I mean that thatsexactly what it is.
Deadpools in it because of his never-before-mentioned-and-never-again-mentioned ex-wife Gretchen.
By completing the mission, he would be given information on her whereabouts.
Deadpools relationships with the rest of the team are rather odd.
You know, the guy who murdered Copycat, love of Wades life, that one time.
And its not like it was some obscure part of his history like it is now.
It had only happened two years prior.
Thats all I got.
Deadpool is testifying at a trial and removes his mask as a horrifying cliffhanger deal.
Its taking every bit of willpower for me not to flip over a table just typing that out.
His run lasted for two arcs.
The first one had Deadpool join a reformed Weapon X alongside Sabretooth and some less-than-important teammates.
Dont even get me started on hisDeadpool Team-Upissue.
Nobody cares about your pet character Mr. X no matter how cool and badass you swear he is.
I will give him credit for the heartbreaking and wordless funeral issue.
As a plus, Gischler introduced Lady Deadpool.
That series led straight intoPrelude to Deadpool Corps.
This was a mixed bag if ever there was one.
If anything, at least the Kidpool one-shot had some great laughs.
The final issue, though…man.
Deadpool Corpssimply didnt work.
The only thing worse than Deadpool in space is a bunch of Deadpools in space.
I also roll my eyes that Lady Deadpools scarred appearance got fixed and she became hot for no reason.
Id argue it was one of Ways best works.
He started the newDeadpoolvolume, tying in withSecret Invasion, and it started out strong.
There was some serious momentum building through that first year, most notably when he was taking on Bullseye-disguised-as-Hawkeye.
Hell, THAT may have been Ways best comic right there.
Sometime after a story where Deadpool attempted to join the X-Men, Way ran out of gas.
His arcs lacked payoff and would instead lead to the next adventure without giving any kind of acceptable closure.
It just went on and on.
Instead, Deadpool would just speak to two inner-voices.
The core book simply lacked any real meat that in any way helped the character.
He had it rough.
The status quo where he lived with a bunch of C-list villains was pretty fun.
Deadpools brief fight with Killmonger Black Panther is one of my all-time favorite goofball moments.
Otherwise, it had some problems that proceeded to hold it back.
The whole thing is middling, but understandably so.
Deadpool plays off him well and existing as the second banana allows him to be more enigmatic.
The black humor is mainly uncomfortable due to how overwhelming and cynical it is.
Like at some point, you realize that thats all there is to the comic.
The mans credentials make him the perfect Deadpool writer on paper.
He refused, eventually only giving him a one-page, off-panel cameo.
Namely, what were they and why did they stop showing up after Way left the book?
I wouldnt mind seeing more from these guys.
Cruel Summer was a stinker of a story that hit the wrong tone.
Thankfully, what followed wasnt in any way similar.
Some were better than others.
Frank Tieri killed her off a couple issues later anyway.
For the most part, it worked.
Then at some point, he turned a corner in a major way and decided to be great.
For instance, hes been absolutely killing it withMagnetoandSinestro.
Bunns found a spot as the guy who is constantly writing four-issue Deadpool minis at any given moment.
This book was…pretty okay.
After that, Bunns quality took an upswing and his Deadpool comics have been pretty fantastic since.
My personal favorite of his isDeadpool vs. Carnage, which was one of the better Carnage stories out there.
Not that thats saying much.
The same reason I rarely care about the Joker anymore.
Deadpool proceeded to destroy Carnage psychologically and shut him up in a way that Spider-Man and Venom never could.
He also used dubstep as a weapon and Im okay with that.
SinceDeadpool Pulpwas Glass only work with the character, I figure Ill just lump them together.
Bensons miniseriesSuicide Kingswas a huge breath of fresh air.
It doesnt have a major hook to make it too memorable, but its an incredibly solid trade.
This led to Deadpool getting his own take calledDeadpool Pulpand these guys knocked it out of the park.
McNinja, which is like having Most Likely to Write Deadpool in your high school yearbook.
Then by easily taking the Walrus down, Deadpool would be seen as a total badass.
Since then, hes written a story inA+Xwhere Deadpool teamed up with Hawkeye.
Plus Hastings introduced Deadpools exploding Hulk Hands arrow, which has since shown up elsewhere.
Hey, how about we give Hastings a Deadpool ongoing down the line and see where that gets us?
Its nice when a writer can pay it some lip service from time to time.
Similarly, Deadpools had his romantic relationship with Death that hes seemed to grow away from.
Many years later, Tim Seeley decided that there was a good story in there and got to work.
SeeleysDeadpool vs. Thanosminiseries is a great ride.
It works for everyone involved and even that doofus the Black Talon comes out looking better.
Plus theres an Easter egg mixed in there that suggests that Deadpool was responsible for killing DCsHitmanstar Tommy Monaghan.
Or at least did upon finding out who Deadpool was after already agreeing to the writing project.
You cant discount how important Waids take on Deadpool was, though.
Waids miniseries actually made Deadpool likeable and heroic.
Through the story, Waid introduced Deadpools relationship with Siryn as well as introducing Dr. Killbrew.
If anything, Waids duty molded the prototype that would become Joe Kellys definitive take on Deadpool.
At the worst, Deadpool would do something stupid and fail in a humorous way.
At the best, hed go do something that seems stupid and come out on top.
Venom best describes Deadpool with, Hes nuts, but hes good at what he does.
You dont think hes going to come through, and then somehow he does.
Then minutes later, Deadpool proceeds to outsmart the goddamn Devil.
Then theres Deadpools ridiculous pizza adventure, which found a spot onmy list of bestThunderboltsmoments.
Those few issues are so well-regarded because theyre seriously entertaining and dense with comedy.
Simone introduced Ratbag, a mentally broken homeless man that Deadpool hired as a biographer.
He straight up went out of his way to bring back Ratbags sanity and dignity and it ruled.
Coincidentally, Ratbags official name is Erik Nicieza.
That one was not great, but notable for laying down some good foundation.
Many would claim that to be the best run with the character and its hard to disagree.
Just ride the wave and pay attention to the exposition.
Nicieza is very unique and has his strengths and weaknesses in his works throughout the years.
His biggest weakness is his overcomplicated plots that I can never seem to get a grasp on.
Its like that for nearly all of Niciezas stories.
Luckily, hes so good with everything else that it doesnt matter.
His character work is phenomenal.
Which makes sense that the comic becomes aimless the moment Cable is written out of the series.
Im proud of you.
That said, Remender knocked it out of the park.
If you werent reading Marvel around the time, then I cant emphasize enough howmajorthis was.
For the most part, Deadpool was written as a two-dimensional joke machine.
Jokes are great and all, but he felt flat and pointless.
The fact that Daniel Way made him a raging asshole with few redeeming characteristics didnt help.
Deadpool spent the rest of the run in the background, but he was always golden.
He verbally annihilated the Punisher so hard that even Garth Ennis had to feel it.
Then it was his compassion amongst a team of extremist anti-heroes that saved everyone in the end.
He didnt create the character, but damn if he didnt invent him.
Kellys time on the book was so character-defining that it felt self-contained.
Like there wasnt really anywhere else to go with him.
There are so many brilliant moments in under three years.
The way he defeated the Taskmaster by being far too unpredictable.
The heartbreaking origin story where he had to kill Worm, the one man who believed in him.
It cant be overstated how important Kelly is to Deadpools existence.
Nearly everyone who followed, including Nicieza, seemed to be trying to reinvent the wheel at best.
But you know what?
Its possible to do so…
1.
Many decided to give it a shot and decided it wasnt for them.
I dont blame them.
But once thats all done with?
Man, youre talking about one of the finest comic runs in recent memory.
The Duggan/PosehnDeadpoolrun is SO GOOD.
Its a total package of what makes him work.
You got your humor.
You got your fantastic supporting cast.
You have pathos up the ass.
You have great action and scenes of pure badassery.
Deadpool moving forward in new ways.
Expert uses of fourth wall-breaking.
Whats done is done and it will always haunt Deadpool, even if he doesnt quite remember it.
Yet his innate goodness leads to those who take a stab at help him overcome.
He finds out he has a daughter and makes sure shes well-protected.
He continues to mentor Evan fromUncanny X-Force.
Captain America learns to respect and befriend him.
He even gets married to an anachronistic succubus who loves him for who he is.
I was bummed when I discovered that the run was ending.
The run has been so fruitful that its essentially made Duggan one of the architects of the Marvel universe.
Not bad for a comic about a Deathstroke knockoff.
